The Traveler
by Louise McCrowe
Summary: Ryouga gets his hands on a interdimensional device. Let's follow his adventures as he tries to figure out just what is going on around him, and most importantly, trying to figure out how to call himself.
1. Prologue

**Standard disclaimer**

I do not own, have never owned, nor will ever own Ranma nor any associated Ranma 1/2 character. Those belong to Rumiko Takahashi and all appropriate licensors, such as Viz Media in the states. My intent is not to profit from these works but to pay homage to a great manga series.

**End disclaimer**

* * *

Prologue

Ryouga sighed dejectedly. This wasn't particularly unusual, since it was around two o'clock, and he was already three dejected sighs behind that day. He gave the straps of his backpack a tug, tightening them, and kept on walking. He wasn't particularly sure where, or why, but he reasoned it was always better to be moving instead of standing still. Sooner or later, he'd get to where he wanted to be. He just cursed that it had to always be later instead of sooner. Much, much later.

It had been over a week since Akane and Ranma's little wedding fiasco and a little over three days since he last saw them. He didn't feel guilty for what happened at the wedding, and with good reason. First, he sincerely, honest to God, thought that he was in Okinawa, about to crash into a zoo keeper's office. Second, from what he learned afterward, it hadn't even been a 'real' wedding, considering they knocked Ranma out to get him to agree. That coward didn't even have the guts to marry Akane correctly. Damn him. Third, Ryouga didn't do anything. He now knew that Ranma and Akane were going to end up together, and as much as it galled him that Akane should settle for a womanizing half-man intent on humiliating him for the rest of his natural life, he'd come to terms with it. He wouldn't have fought Ranma over Akane's hand. Over other crap, hey, sure. He knew that all he had to do was hang around Ranma enough until he said or did something that demanded righteous retribution.

Still, the wedding had been ruined before his arrival, and all he did was go after the Nannichuan water. Everybody else did it, and Ryouga'd be damned if he'd let the cure (to something that was Ranma's fault, of course) get away from him simply because he had to be polite.

"Oh, no, please, Mousse, I insist. Take the water for yourself," he said, to himself, gesturing a bit in exaggerated motions, "Ah, Mr. Saotome, how could I ever take away your need for a cure? Please, you must take precedence."

Most people walking past the boy talking to himself gave him a wide berth, allowing him to be as crazy as he thought he had to be. No reason to shatter the poor kid's heart, they told themselves, by telling him that there was no one else with him.

Ryouga kept on walking, albeit without any physical manifestation of his thoughts. He wanted to be so many different places at the same time. He wanted to be home, to store some of the things on his backpack and maybe, just maybe, talk to his parents face to face. He wanted to be at the Unryuu farm, so that he could talk to Akari, let her know that she really was the only one for him, that the red-haired pigtailed girl meant nothing, really. He wanted to be at the Tendo Dojo, to challenge Ranma on the grounds of being a crummy groom. He wanted to be in Hokkaido, since somehow, he seemed to have a ticket for a sold-out concert two days from then, and he'd heard that it would kick ass. Not that he knew who 'U2' was, but if he had the ticket, might as well try to show up. He wanted to be anywhere in Japan that he'd be able to recognize.

Instead, Ryouga saw a tall Caucasian with long black hair and a pair of spectacles suddenly run out of a store and slam the door behind him, panting heavily. After a few breaths, he turned, cracked the door open, and peeked inside. He gave a small wave inside, along with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," he said, in English. He then opened the door fully.

Ryouga, at first staring curiously at the westerner, suddenly felt very ill. He could not be in England again. If Ranma learned about this, he'd have a field day. Get in one or two cargo ships by mistake, end up in Russia, Mexico a few times, and suddenly Ranma wouldn't let him hear the end of it. Ryouga looked around. Everything was in Japanese, which was a good sign. He'd assume that the man was a gaijin in Japan instead of him being in a Japanese block of some city. It would seem an obvious assumption, had Ryouga not been in so many situations where such assumptions failed him.

"Hello," the foreigner said, addressing Ryouga, still in English.

"Heh-roh," Ryouga replied.

Hearing Ryouga speak seemed to trigger something in the man. He looked around a bit, and seemed to be taking in his surroundings. Ryouga took the time to evaluate the man. He was sharply dressed, wearing a red shirt that looked to Ryouga that might be Chinese silk, gray vest, pleated gray pants, and a pair of white Italian shoes that matched his belt. He was wearing also a very heavy trenchcoat, currently opened, and a red wool scarf, hanging around his neck like a towel.

"I'm in Japan, aren't I?" he finally said, still in English.

"Yes," Ryouga ventured, hoping that he wasn't actually lying.

"What is day today?" he said in Japanese. His language skills weren't bad, in Ryouga's opinion.

"Saturday," Ryouga said.

"The date?" the man specified. Ryouga told him.

"How many world wars have there been?" He continued, an anxious look growing on his face.

"Uh, two. Listen, why are you asking these questions?" Ryouga said, looking slightly uncomfortable. Was this man a truant officer? He hated those; hard to explain why he didn't attend school.

"Just..." the man had a pained expression on his face, "just a few more questions, OK? It won't take long. Has Japan won both of them?"

"Lost in WWII. But I guess you could consider that a trick question. Japan was the last power in the axis to fall, and the surrender was mostly to save the lives of soldiers that wouldn't have, had the US not employed a pair of atomic bombs, given up. Since their defeat in 1945, the Japanese people have managed to become an economic power, their imposed lack of military notwithstanding, demonstrating this success didn't come from the bullying of weaker nations."

"Are towels easy to buy?"

Ryouga was befuddled by this man, but felt that he had no right to refuse him. He'd needed help with directions more than once, and this man looked just as lost as he was. Maybe he'd knock him out after the questions and send him to some sort of mental hospital, as a favor. "Yes. Very easy. You can buy one in just about any large department store."

"Is print illegal?"

"Huh?"

"Is print illegal? Is it illegal to carry, own, or create printed materials such as books, posters, leaflets, porn? Especially porn."

"No," Ryouga pointed at a bookstore nearby, "if you want travel guides, those places usually carry quite a large selection, actually."

"Have aliens ever descended upon Earth, wreaking havoc and mayhem?" The seriousness with which he asked this particular question took Ryouga back.

"No, never. Listen, is this going to go on for very long? It's getting kinda late," he pointed at the sun directly above them, "and I really have to be home before dark."

"Just one more question: Have you ever heard of the name Harold P. Orlitz?"

"Can't say it rings any bells, sorry," Ryouga started to leave, hoping that was the last question.

"Wait," the man grabbed the youth by the shoulders, "Are you sure? Howard Orlitz? Hal Owlitz? Anything like that? Overlord of the Americas and doombringer of the new era?"

"Nope," Ryouga said, slightly annoyed at being grabbed, and thinking whether or not to hurt him when he broke the grip, "I've heard of a Bill Gates, but..."

He let go of him. "Yeah, yeah, I'm not interested in any upstarts," he said, with a dismissive wave. Then, he relaxed visibly. He took some deep breaths and pounded his chest twice. He raised his right fist in front of him, and cried, "Finally figured you out, you bastard. No Orlitz, no aliens, no WW VI, I can buy porn and a towel!" He let out a cry of joy, and then, in a much lower voice, "This is paradise."

The man turned to Ryouga, who had decided to stay and see this to the end anyway. "Thanks kid. Sorry for taking your time," he said, and bowed.

"Sure, no problem," Ryouga replied, a little uncomfortable.

The man turned on his heel and started walking away. As he passed a trash can, he paused, seemed to struggle with his hands, and threw something that looked like a keychain to Ryouga, but he was too far away to make it out clearly. Deciding he had spent way too much time cavorting with lunatics, he set out in a different direction, intent on finding the Tendo Dojo. As he was walking away, he passed a trashcan, where something metallic nearby caught his eye. It seemed to be jewelry of some sort, and Ryouga crouched and picked it up.

It looked like three rings connected together to a smaller fourth ring. He didn't know what it was supposed to be, but it was pretty in an elegant, simplistic sort of way. He could give it to Akari, even. Ryouga paused in his thoughts for a moment, and decided that it was best to find out what it was first and then have it appraised. He didn't want to give Akari a piece of junk, or something utterly worthless. She deserved more than that.

He put the three larger rings on his index finger, and twirled the object absently. Maybe women liked linking multiple rings to one finger nowadays? He was so behind on female fashion, he didn't want to embarrass himself, presenting it as a bracelet sort of thing when it probably would end up being a really weird earring. He stopped the spinning, and put it in his pocket. He'd have to see a jeweler later, and he had other presents with him to give. One of the advantages of traveling the world.

Quickly forgetting about the strange man and the object that he threw away, he set out once more into the cold and unforgiving world.


	2. Once Here

**Chapter**** 1 : ****Once****here**

Ryouga fidgeted with the ringchain, as he'd come to call it. It was pretty, whatever it was, and he'd come up with a few ways to wear it, although he could never be entirely sure. He tried adding an extra chain and hanging it on his forehead like he'd seen some Indian girls do. The shape was just wrong, though, and the middle ring hung way too low, hitting his nose. It couldn't be used as a bracelet, unless the wearer had extremely small wrists. The store owner hadn't been much help, either.

"Well, son, this looks like a portion of the fabled earring-necklace-bracelet-headpiece of FriNn," he had said, pulling out a dusty tome, "if it weren't for the fact that... here. See?" He showed an illustration of a short girl in a long white dress wearing a decidedly weird contraption. "The rings in the headpiece are much smaller, there are only two, and they are pretty far apart," he concluded.

"That, and they look nothing alike, old man," Ryouga had replied, comparing the illustration of the contraption being worn on the girl's hand, arm, neck, and head to the small three ring set in front of him.

"Look," he had continued, ignoring the boy, "it might just be a really fancy set of keychains, you know? Used by janitors worldwide?"

"With these little rings? And no way of hooking it to anything?" Ryouga was right. The rings really didn't have any way to hook themselves into anything. Either something was hooked to them, or they were used as rings.

"Listen, I don't know what it is, but I suppose I could pay you a decent price for the material. That chain looks like silver, even if the quality isn't exceptional."

Ryouga had turned down the offer, deciding to have a girl take a look at it before getting rid of it. In the worst case, he could always just give it to Akari without knowing what it was. Seriously, though. What are the chances of stumbling upon something like the forbidden Medallion of Uncontrolled Undead Summoning twice?

He tried wearing it around his index and middle finger, placing his pinky through the remaining ring. The connecting fourth ring (which Ryouga had long decided was definitely not meant to house a finger) just hung there, swinging below his palm. He frowned, and placed the ring from his index finger on his thumb. He smiled at the result. It was still strange, but now the ringchain made a nice triangle pattern if he opened his hand, and the light caught the central ring in a very pretty way, making it's azure color more pronounced. Even if it wasn't how it was worn, it seemed right enough to present it as such.

"Why, hello, Ryouga. How are you?"

Ryouga turned around, surprised at the voice. There was a very nice girl standing behind him, with a bag of groceries in her hands, her hair tied in a loose ponytail.

"Kasumi! Hi," he replied, as best he could. He was pleasantly surprised, but then realized that he was actually trying to get to Akari, and not Akane, which meant...

"I'm in Nerima," he said, dejectedly.

"Hm-hm," she replied, smiling politely. She would never make fun of Ryouga's sense of direction, and tried to be as compassionate as she could towards him whenever he happened to stumble in (many times literally, as he seemed half dead at the end of most of his trips). "Could you help me with my groceries? I could take you back to the dojo when I'm done, and you and Ranma can have fun." She smiled again. She knew what their 'fun' meant, but if she acknowledged it, chances are that they would see that as encouragement. As long as no one got hurt, she could stand it. It came with living in a martial arts environment for a good part of her life. Plus, Ranma usually became more cheerful when Ryouga was around.

Ryouga thought this over for just a second before nodding. Even if he didn't exactly want to get to the Tendo Dojo right then, preferring to stop by Akari's farm so some of the gifts didn't rot, helping Kasumi wouldn't be a problem. It would be relaxing, actually, all things considered. Kasumi didn't have any hidden agendas, had never humiliated him, was always pleasant, and was one of the few girls around whom he didn't get nervous. He paused at that thought. Kasumi was a girl.

"Kasumi, is this something that girls wear nowadays?" he asked, showing her his outstretched palm.

She looked at it for a second, then said, "Hmm. That looks like the fabled headpiece of FriNn, except it's totally different." She stared at it for a few seconds more, before shaking her head. "Sorry. It looks pretty, but I can't say that I recognize it. Why? Do you think it makes you look unmanly?"

"It's not for me!" he nearly shouted, flustered, "I... I just wanted to know if a girl would like this, is all..." he finished, in a lower voice.

Kasumi smiled a small, knowing smile, "Ryouga, don't worry. It's very pretty, even if it's... well, I don't know what it is. I'm sure she'd love the gesture, that's all that matters," she said, patting his arm. "Now," she continued, "let me just..." she reached to the rings, and gently twisted them in Ryouga's fingers. "There. That would look better, I suppose."

Ryouga looked at the ringchain. The hanging ring wasn't hanging that much anymore, the chains having been drawn tight. It did look a lot better, and he squinted at the rings, noticing that the fine chain actually retracted inside of them.

"How did you know?" Ryouga asked, embarrassed to have missed such an obvious detail.

"Oh, girls just do," she said, with a small wave of her hand. "Now, Ryouga?" She presented her bag to him, and he took it, accompanying her for the rest of her groceries, never having removing the ringchain.

Some time later, Ryouga was carrying six bags of groceries, following Kasumi closely. How she would have been able to carry home so much by herself had he not shown up was a mystery to him, but he didn't dawdle on it for long. It wasn't as if it bothered him, even with his backpack still strapped, this was far less than what he was used to.

Kasumi, on her part, didn't tell him that she was already heading home when they met and decided to use his brutish strength to stock up on food. No reason to make six trips to the market when there is a human mule walking around. Ranma was starting to notice that Kasumi always bought bulk when he went along and was starting to mysteriously vanish about the time she would leave for shopping. Kasumi figured that neither Ranma nor Akane would have been home anyway, so there would be no reason to leave poor Ryouga walking around the house without any purpose.

"We're here," she announced, not so rhetorically, considering Ryouga was ready to keep on walking past the front gate. She opened the gate and ushered her entourage in. Ryouga followed her to the kitchen, where he placed the bags on the counter.

"You can sit down in the living room, if you want. Ranma should be getting home soon," Kasumi offered, opening a cupboard.

Ryouga thought about the perilous journey to the living room, and decided that it wasn't worth the risk. "It's OK, Kasumi, I'm not tired. I'll help you out." He took out a tub o' lard from one of the bags (they were really big bags) and looked at Kasumi.

"Oh, that goes over there," she said, motioning to the cupboard behind him. Ryouga promptly turned around, opened it, and placed the tub o' lard inside. He couldn't help but notice how dark that particular cabinet was, it almost seemed to be swallowing the light. He closed it and turned to Kasumi, another item from the bags in hand. She informed him of where it went, and he placed it there. This process repeated itself a few times, with Ryouga only sometimes storing the products without asking, knowing where the eggs went, for instance. He couldn't help but notice just how dark some of those drawers, cabinets, cupboards were. Not all of them, and not all the time, he noticed as well. Finally, they were done and Kasumi suggested (as in, forced) Ryouga to wait in the living room while she got tea ready.

Ryouga took a few steps out of the kitchen and was confronted with a door. Whether or not there was supposed to be a door on the way from the kitchen to the living room was inconsequential. Ryouga had long ago learnt that the second he stopped to look around, he'd actually get more lost than before. Without a third thought, he placed his hand on the doorknob and stepped through the darkest doorway he'd seen in daytime yet.

He closed the door, feeling around for a light switch. After a few seconds of fumbling, he realized how stupid this was, and decided to open the door to let some light in, and then maybe shout for Kasumi. If he had just walked into a closet, he'd be damned if he was going to shout for help while still inside it. He found the door relatively easily (after only three tries. Impressive, considering he hadn't budged his feet so far), and opened it.

Outside, Ryouga saw outside. He did a double take, but it was still there. Outside the door, was outside. He wasn't inside a house any longer, he wasn't even in the yard. He was plain outside the house. He stepped out and looked back, noticing where he had just come from.

"A porta-potty?" Ryouga asked himself in a very low voice. He hadn't been daydreaming, he wasn't walking unnecessarily, and he wasn't thinking about Akari or Akane. How did he get from the Tendo Dojo to a portable toilet?

Ryouga looked around, trying to see if maybe the dojo was just around the corner or something. He wasn't crazy. He knew there was no way he could have left the house in such a few number of steps. Realizing he had absolutely no idea where he was, Ryouga lowered his head.

"This is all your fault! Ranma Saotome, Prepare to die!" came a mighty bellow. Good resonance, nice enunciation, Ryouga noticed. However, the voice sounded wrong, and, most importantly, didn't come from him. He looked up and noticed a Japanese boy, dressed in yellow, orange and black, lunge at him from above, wielding a familiar red umbrella.

**Author****'****s****Notes****:**

If anyone knows what you would call what I keep describing as a 'ringchain', please feel free to let me know. What else can you call rings that are connected via thin chains?


	3. Twin Arrows

**Chapter**** 2 : ****Twin****Arrows** **Part**** 1**

Ryouga barely dodged out of the way as the other boy drove his umbrella into the ground previously occupied by him. He turned around to face him, reaching for his own umbrella, remembering that he left it at entrance to the kitchen at the Tendo residence. It didn't matter, anyway. He could take care of a plagiarist with his bare hands.

Then, he got a good look at the features of the boy attacking him.

"Ranma? What's the matter with you, have you gone crazy?" Ryouga shouted at the pigtailed boy in front of him. So, not only didn't Ranma have the courtesy to wait for a challenge before challenging him, he went out of his way to mock him? Wearing his clothes and umbrella? How dare he? How dare he!

"Shut up and fight, you pig!" he shifted his grip on the umbrella and went for a thrust.

The thrust connected solidly with Ryouga's forehead, who just stood there. For a second, the scene was frozen. The pigtailed boy, umbrella thrust forward, the fanged boy, standing there with his fists clenched, and an umbrella right between the eyes. The owner of the umbrella was so surprised that there wasn't the slightest attempt to dodge that he entirely forgot about the fight for a split second.

That was all it took. Ryouga let out an incomprehensible battle cry, understandably, since he was just shouting without bothering to form words. Again, Ranma mocked him. Again, he was reminded of whose fault it was exactly that he turned into a pig. He let his fist fly, connecting

solidly with his opponent's side, knocking the wind out of him.

"Fine, Ranma! If this is what you want, prepare to-" Ryouga paused to look at the figure on the ground. "Ranma?" He nudged the figure with his foot, ignoring the fact that it could very well be a feint. "Ranma?" he repeated, flipping the boy so that he was laying on his back. He looked

thoroughly knocked out.

"What the hell?" Ryouga said, mostly to himself. No way Ranma would fall with just a punch. Even a lucky one. Then, a thought occurred to him: He'd defeated Ranma. Not only that, but it was a valid victory. He was challenged, and he knocked him out, with one punch, to boot. He'd been training in the mountains for a while, and had increased his strength. Obviously it proved too much for Ranma. He'd defeated Ranma before - he fondly remembered carrying a knocked-out Ranma into the Tendo dojo after his unveiling of the shishihokodan - so it could definitely happen again.

He sighed. Or maybe it meant Ranma was drugged, or under a spell, or sick,

or any of the dozens of different things that could happen.

"Still," he thought, looking at the boy at his feet, "he deserves it."

"Ryouga!" came a shout in a very familiar voice. Ryouga turned towards it, and noticed Akane running towards then.

"Akane!" he answered, waving and smiling, "Hi, how's it going?"

She totally ignored him and knelt besides the unconscious boy, a worried and angry look on her face. "Damn it, Ranma. Why do you always pick on poor Ryouga?"

"Oh, don't worry about it," Ryouga said, a hand behind his head, "I'm OK." He hadn't felt this good in a long time. He'd just defeated Ranma. Akane was worried about him. The sun was shining, without a cloud in the sky. He hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Who cares about you, you jerk?" she snarled at him, "Help me get Ryouga to Dr. Tofu."

"Uh- wh-what?" Ryouga stuttered, flabbergasted by the apparent turnaround in Akane's behavior.

"Fine!" She put her arms around the limp body and pulled him on to her back, while saying in a more than mildly annoyed voice at Ryouga, "If that's what you want, I'll take him there myself."

She hooked her arms under his legs, and started walking away, when Ryouga finally found his voice. "Akane, I'm right here!"

Akane looked at him with what seemed to be curiosity, quickly being replaced by a much more open hostility.

"Honestly, Ranma. Get over yourself," she said, and with that, stomped off, carrying 'Ryouga' on her back.

Ryouga, on his part, stayed rooted to his spot. Akane needed glasses. That was the only explanation. She had probably noticed that Ranma was wearing the same clothes and Ryouga, and from far away, they looked the same. She took one look at the fight, and assumed that Ryouga was the one who lost. OK, his pride could deal with that. Usually Ranma won, not always, but usually. She probably didn't notice the pigtail, his lack of fangs, his face, or how light he would be, compared to Ryouga. Akane definitely needed glasses.

Hoping against hope that he remembered where Dr. Tofu's clinic was, having been there only once, he set out in pursuit of Akane.

Ryouga panted and gasped, attempting to get his breath back. He had been running as fast as he could to catch up with Akane, and he was certain that he would have covered less ground if he took a train. He'd only been running for about an hour, but had been doing it at a breakneck pace, certain that Akane was always 'just around the corner'. The fact that it always seemed to be the same corner didn't exactly register with Ryouga, and he couldn't help thinking in what great shape Akane must be, to cover such a great distance carrying someone else.

For the umpteenth time, Ryouga stopped someone - in this case being one of a couple of elderly women - and asked her if she knew where Dr. Ono Tofu's clinic would happen to be.

She looked at the boy for a second, then at her companion. She pointed at the sign on the wall. It read "Dr. Ono Tofu - Acupressure, Acupuncture, Moxibustion, Obscure Knowledge Reference." Then she pointed at the big neon sign flashing above them, saying "Dr. Tofu's Clinic", with a big arrow pointing at the building. Then to a sign on the street which read "Get

your bones into place - Dr. Ono Tofu", and finally to the mariachi band currently playing a catchy little tune as advertising.

Slightly embarrassed, Ryouga thanked the couple and went into the clinic, seeing the "Ono" sign on the door. Once inside, he looked around, deciding which direction he should go to, and deciding it shouldn't matter, as long as he didn't leave the building. Deciding on a course of action, Ryouga gave one step forward and felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked at the

hand and screamed.

"Hello, Ranma. Looking for Akane?" asked Dr. Tofu, carrying Betty, the skeleton whose hand was on Ryouga's shoulder so recently.

"W-well, I'm here to see Akane, but-"

"Well, then, come on. It won't do for you to disturb the other patients by accident," he said, and in so doing, grabbed Ryouga's hand. With Ryouga in tow, the three of them (if one considered the skeleton) walked in a brisk pace towards an examination room.

"But, but I'm not Ranma," Ryouga tried saying, but the doctor apparently didn't hear him.

"Here you go," Tofu said, and ushered Ryouga in.

Inside was Akane, sitting next to an examination table, as well as Ranma, sitting on said table, apparently still a bit groggy but conscious. For a few seconds, the three of them stood there, alone and silent, without moving.

"Well?" asked Akane, breaking the silence.

"Well, what?" Ryouga replied, still a bit confused.

"Aren't you here to apologize for picking on Ryouga?" Akane asked, a bit exasperated.

"Really, Akane, it's fine," Ranma said from the table, a bit embarassed.

"Yeah, Akane, it's not... just... wait, who is supposed to apologize to whom here?" Ryouga asked, feeling very uncomfortable about some of the things that seemed to be going through his mind.

Akane got up, standing a mere foot away from Ryouga. An expression he had never seen being applied to anyone other than Ranma was on her face. "You, to Ryouga!" she nearly shouted.

"But- but I'm Ryouga," he said, feeling as if he was stating that two plus two equals four, but wasn't that sure of it anymore.

Akane and Ranma exchanged curious glances.

"Excuse me?" Ranma asked, getting to his feet.

"I am Ryouga!" Ryouga shouted, pulling back his upper lip to reveal the fangs, "See? Fangs? I'm Ryouga!" His mood changed quickly from exasperated to angry. "Ranma, I don't know what the hell you're trying to pull here, but I won't let you involve poor innocent Akane into this!" With that,

Ryouga got into a battle stance.

"Oh, so now you make fun of me, is that it? I don't know what your game is, Ranma, but I'm going to make you eat those words!" Ranma stated loudly, and got into a ready stance of his own, nearly identical to Ryouga's.

Akane got in between the two warring boys. "Stop it, you two," she said. Akane didn't want to make trouble inside Tofu's clinic, specially for some stupid prank that Ranma seemed to be playing.

"Now, what happens to be the problem," said Tofu as he entered the room and placed Betty's arms around Ryouga's neck, scaring the living daylights out of him.

"Ranma is trying to pull some prank on Ryouga, isn't it, Ranma?" Akane used the most accusatory glare she could muster, as if daring the fanged boy to deny it.

Ryouga, however, at this point was getting slightly hysterical. "I'm Ryouga. Not him, me! Akane, please, look at me," he said, a very pitiful expression on his face, "I know we're wearing the same clothes, but come on, we don't look anything alike! I'm Ryouga Hibiki, me! He's Ranma! Look at that stupid pigtail!"

Akane stared at Ryouga as he went on his outburst, stunned. Something didn't feel right to her, and she was very afraid of what it might mean.

"R-Ranma, are you feeling alright?" she asked, stepping forward to feel his forehead. Even Ranma seemed to have a slightly worried look on his face. His opponent was never very good at acting, and he seemed very honest in his words.

Ryouga screamed, clutched his head, and was about to run off to sort this out on his own, when the world was taken by darkness.

"Ranma?" Akane asked nobody in particular, looking at her fiancé's limp form in Tofu's arms.

"Don't worry, I just tapped a shiatsu spot," assured Tofu, stepping with 'Ranma' towards the examination table. "Ryouga, you seem to have recovered, could you help me put Ranma on the table?"

'Ryouga' nodded and helped place the unconscious boy on the table.

"Dr. Tofu, do you think he thought he was being serious?" Akane asked, worry evident in her voice.

"Let's wait until he wakes up to make any sort of assessment, shall we?" Tofu offered, in a calm voice, "It did look to me that he was going through some sort of nervous breakdown, and we wouldn't want him roaming around in this state, if that's the case." Tofu smiled. "I think we all know what would happen then, right?"

Akane sighed. Her fiancé's sense of direction was horrible, and practically a legend. It actually was already a legend among many travel guide companies, that had a contest every month or so, trying to see which one could come up with a method of getting even someone like Ranma Saotome to follow directions properly.

Tofu turned to Ryouga, who was scowling at the sleeping Ranma. "Ryouga," he said, "maybe you should wait outside until he wakes up. It seems that your presence is upsetting him. Not," he said, waving his hands, anticipating some reaction from the two teenagers, "that it is your

fault. Simply that it's happening. So, please?"

Ryouga nodded and headed out, his pigtail bouncing slightly.

"Akane, I need to see other patients, but I'll be back before Ranma wakes up, OK?" he told Akane, who nodded in response, and then headed off after Ryouga. Akane was left alone in the room, again tending to an unconscious boy, but this time, she was a lot more afraid than before. Before, she knew exactly what the problem was. She was just there to make sure Ryouga

really was alright before going home. Now, her fiancé comes and starts jabbering nonsense. Akane looked again at Ranma, laying down on the bed. He look sort of cute there, sleeping peacefully. She brushed back a stray hair over his forehead, her hand touching the bandanna in the process. She frowned a bit, looking at the bandanna. Ryouga only wore his every once in a while, and it wasn't exactly like this. She looked at the rest of the clothing, and it was spot on. He probably got them from Ryouga's backpack, the jerk. Her frown deepened into a scowl. And she was just starting to feel worried about his health! It was obvious that this was all some sort of sick joke to Ranma. He'd dressed up as Ryouga and set out to make fun of him.

She pinched the bridge of her nose. This was so mindboggingly stupid, even by her fiancé's standards, that she was glad that Dr. Tofu put him to sleep. He deserved it, after what he'd done. She got even angrier at the sleeping figure. How could she have believed him even for a second? This was classic Ranma, always taking his stupid little jokes and disguises too far.

Still, she told herself, he did seem honest...

No, stop it! Don't get worried over that (cute) jerk.

Akane was fuming for a few minutes longer, when Dr. Tofu walked in.

"So, is he awake yet?" Dr. Tofu asked.

"No, he's still-" Akane said, only to be rudely interrupted and proven a liar by a groan from the boy on the bed.

"Ow... what happened?" he mumbled.

"Relax," Dr. Tofu said, coming to his side, "could you tell me what is the last thing you remember?"

"I was here, with you and Akane and Ranma," he said, propping himself up on his elbows.

"I see," Dr. Tofu said, a pensive expression on his face. "Tell me, have you been in any fights lately?"

Akane stayed silent, seeing what Dr. Tofu was trying to do, but still felt angry at Ranma and his stupid little jokes.

Ryouga looked at both Dr. Tofu and Akane, noticing that their expressions were slightly off. "I- other than the fight with Ranma, no. What's the matter?"

Dr. Tofu came closer to Ryouga and started to examine the back of his head, gently prodding the scalp and moving hair out of the way. "Ryouga," he said, slowly, "do you remember who your father is?"

"Yes," he responded, warily, "He's Myouga Hibiki. Door-to-door salesman."

"Okay," Dr. Tofu said, motioning for Ryouga to remove his bandanna. He promptly did so, removing as well the other four bandannas under it. Ryouga let out a sigh of relief. He hadn't realized how long he'd been wearing those bandannas, and it was starting to give him a headache. "What about Genma Saotome?" he continued as he examined the boy's scalp,

"have you heard of him?"

"Sure," Ryouga replied, truthfully. "Ranma's father. Bald. Wears glasses."

"Oh, for crying out loud," Akane said, in frustration. She'd had just about enough of this.

"Akane, would you mind stepping outside?" Dr. Tofu told her, smiling, then turned to Ryouga, "I'll be right back."

"Akane," he said, patiently, "Ranma seems to be suffering from some sort of identity crisis. Frankly, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him. Physically," he added hastily before Akane could interject. "I don't know whether or not he's faking it, but from what we know of Ranma, he really isn't one to do that sort of thing. I can venture a few guesses, but that's all they'll be; guesses."

Akane nodded and waited for him to continue.

"Ranma's been through a lot these last few months, and might have taken refuge in taking the identity of someone else, whom he views as having less problems. A way to escape the troubles of his life without severing all connections to it, if you will."

"But," Akane said, a frown on her face, "if that's the case, why Ryouga? He seems to have his share of problems as well. Why not one of his troublefree friends, Daisuke or Hiroshi?"

"I'd say that Ryouga is the one in his life he's most similar to; a martial artist, same age, and their lives are very connected." Dr. Tofu shrugged. "Akane, I'm guessing here. A psychatrist could probably tell you much more, or even determine if this is a conscious act or not. I suppose until

you can take him to one, just treat him normally."

Akane seemed to think this over for a moment, her eyebrows creasing in confusion, "Normally, as if he were Ryouga, or normally, as Ranma?"

"Well, come on, R- Ryouga," Akane said. She was back in the room, still deciding how to handle this while Dr. Tofu didn't contact some other specialist.

"Uh... sure," Ryouga answered, a bit unsure. "So, is everything OK now?"

"Yeah. Listen, don't worry about Ranma and all that, everything's fine," Akane said gently, leading him out of the clinic. "Uh... OK!" he said, agreeably, being led by Akane by the hand. "Thanks for waiting for me, by the way. I was just needing to get back to the dojo."

Akane just glanced at him, giving him a smile, an unfathomable expression on her face.

"Oh, and, Akane?" he asked. Akane turned around, still smiling, with only the faintest hint of irritation, as if she wanted to just go home and wait until Ranma got back to normal, which was exactly what she wanted to do. "Do you happen to know what this is?" Ryouga showed her the ringchain, still on his hand.

Akane looked at it blankly for a few seconds, then just shrugged. "I don't know. Some kind of stylish brass knuckles, maybe?"

"Huh," Ryouga began, softly, "so you don't what it is either. No matter, then." He could just give it to Akari as a nice little trinket, let her make of it what she will. Or sell it and buy her a real gift.

Akane nodded, and then did a double-take. "Wait, you don't know what this is?" she said, slowly.

"No, I just found it today, over at - whoa! What's the matter?"

Akane took a good grip of Ryouga and started in a very determined manner in a very different direction from the one they were heading moments before.

"We're going to go see Cologne. Don't worry, we'll get this all sorted out in no time flat!" she exclaimed, victoriously.

"Oh, hello, Ranma," Kasumi said as she spotted the boy walking into the residence. "Back from your training trip?"

The boy laughed nervously, running his left hand through his hair, ruffling it up some more. He wore a blue Chinese-style shirt, black pants, and some straps on his wrists. On his back was a heavy backpack, and he had a light layer of dust on him, overall.

"Actually, I've been done for days now. I would have been back a lot sooner, but, well," he laughed a bit more, still embarrassed. "you know how it is."

Kasumi gave a knowing smile. "Well, you must be famished anyway. Dinner won't be for a bit, would you like a snack?"

"Would I!" he said, grinning wide, his fangs on proud display.

"God, it was not OK," Ryouga thought. He was in the Cat Café, sitting down at a table with Cologne and Akane as well. At the moment, Cologne was turning the strange piece of jewelry over in her hands.

"Well, it's nothing that I've ever seen," she finally proclaimed her diagnosis. "It's not magical, either. It just looks like a pretty bauble. Or the legendary headpiece of FriNn, except it's totally different."

She handed the ringchain back to Ryouga, who decided to pocket it instead of keep wearing it on his hand.

"What's the matter, son-in-law?" Cologne said, "Did you get ripped-off once more?"

She cackled a bit, and Ryouga winced. Not at the cackle, but at the fact that he was being called "son-in-law". Things were definitely not OK.

"Oh, nothing," Akane interjected. "He just thought it would help him out with his curse. Well, come on," she said, pulling Ryouga up, "we better get going." They quickly exited the Cat Café, Akane dragging Ryouga behind her.

It took Cologne a few seconds to fully realize what had happened. Ranma hadn't said a word throughout the whole ordeal, letting Akane do all the talking. Right there, she should have realized there was something fishy going on, but a lifetime of living in an Amazon society made such an event so commonplace even she could be forgiven for her momentary lapse.

Shampoo was out making a delivery, which was good anyway. Cologne needed some time to figure out what was going on, and if she told Shampoo about this, she might to and do something stupid. She went to her room and pulled out a very long scroll. She had told them the truth; she didn't know what that jewelry was. She'd be damned if she didn't find out, though.

"Whoa, whoa!" went a non-struggling Ryouga, "What's the matter, Akane? And what was all that about son-in-law? What's going on?"

"Nothing to it, let's just get home, Ryouga," she answered, perhaps a bit too harshly.

"No, wait." As much as Ryouga liked to be dragged around by a girl (seriously), right now more important things were in his mind. He planted his feet down, firmly, and Akane suddenly jerked back as her charge stopped moving along with her. "Listen, I'm not dumb. She was treating me as if... as if... as if I was Ranma," Ryouga finally finished, feeling ridiculous.

"And you, before, were doing the same thing," he said, exasperated. "I mean, I mean, look. What's going on?" He looked pleadingly at Akane. "If Ranma did anything, I'll make him pay, you know I will. Just, please, tell me what's going on."

Akane looked at Ryouga with pity in her eyes, and she opened her purse, pulling out of it a pocket mirror.

"Who do you see?" she asked, handing him the mirror.

Ryouga swallowed, hard, as he took the mirror. "Who do I see? Oh, lord, please, please, please, let me not see Ranma," he thought.

He opened the mirror, eyes shut, and slowly opened one of them, fearfully gazing into the mirror. Staring back at him was his own face, one eye shut.

Ryouga looked back at Akane, the double checked his reflection.

"I see myself, Akane."

Akane ran her hands through her hair. She seemed very tired. "Do you see a

ponytail?"

He looked again, just to be sure. "No, I don't."

She stuck her hands out, as if that clinched it. "Don't you find your smile a bit strange?"

He smiled, then examined all of his mouth. There was nothing odd, except "Well, I have to sharpen my canines again, but everything seems fine."

Akane looked desperate once again. "You have no ponytail, and you have fangs!"

"Well, yes," Ryouga said, "I know."

"Listen, I really think that that thing," she pointed at his pocket, "has messed up with your memory. You're Ranma. Ranma. Ryouga is one of your, well," she struggled to come up with the right word, "your friends, and he's the one who wears a bandanna, he's the one with a ponytail, he's the one who does not have fangs."

Ryouga looked at Akane, and at the chain. "Could it be?" he thought, "This

thing has made me think that I am Ryouga, when I am really Ranma?"

"But - but -" Ryouga tried to say.

"Ranma, don't you find it odd that everyone is treating you like, well, yourself? Like Ranma?" Akane said.

"But I don't remember being Ranma. I'm Ryouga."

"That's why we went to Doctor Tofu, Ranma, I'm sorry," she said, reaching for his hand, "he told me to humor you, but you're not Ryouga, you're Ranma. I couldn't keep it up."

Ryouga was speechless. He was Ranma? All of his memories were fake?

"But, then... does this mean that Akari wants nothing to do with me?"

Akane frowned just a bit. "Akari?" she asked. She had never heard of Ryouga mentioning anyone like that, what could Ranma be talking about?

"Well, you know, my, well, not girlfriend, exactly," Ryouga began, struggling for words, "I mean, we've just gone out on a few dates, and that time at my house..."

Ryouga looked at Akane, who had an odd expression on her face.

"You know, that pretty girl. You've met her. Actually..." Ryouga's brow furrowed as he began to pat himself. "Here," he said, and handed Akane a wallet picture of Akari, smiling sweetly at the camera.

Kasumi hummed sweetly as she diced the potatoes into little parallelepipeds, as equal to one another as possible, considering the shape of the potatoes. The meat and onions were all ready, each one in their own bowl, ingredients proud to be there. There was a destiny that an

ingredient had to fulfill, one that gave purpose and meaning to it. True, rare was the ingredient that didn't fulfill it's destiny, as it was, after all, a part of what made an ingredient, but that still didn't mean they couldn't take pride in it.

And so it was with the meat, waiting patiently for it's turn to be fried, next to it's brothers in arms, to welcome it's death, for there was nothing more to an ingredient after a dish, and since they didn't believe in the afterlife, it was with a stoicism they marched (if one could call being still, marching) to their fate. The onions weren't exactly so hot for the idea of their fate, and usually felt that they were the chosen ones. Why else, they reasoned, would their god cry while leading them to their annihilation? Still, they remained still, content in the knowledge that, if they must be sacrifices, for them there surely must be an afterlife. While they too would die by fire, all other ingredients would suffer from that fire throughout eternity.

It was also widely regarded by the other ingredients that onions were morons.

Kasumi placed the meat, potatoes, and those blasted onions into the frying pan, stirring them a bit. She always thought this was a nice dish. Not only did it have a very nice and distinct home-cooked flavor, it pretty much cooked itself, in relatively little time . Normally, she wouldn't

have made it so early before dinner, but since she was making Ranma a snack at the same time, she figured she might as well get started.

"So," she said as she began to untie her apron, "did you learn any exciting new techniques while on your trip?"

"Well, not exactly," Ranma said, his mouth full, as Kasumi sat down besides him (her apron neatly folded by her side), "I helped out a man and he taught me something in return." He took another bite of the sandwich he was eating. "It's not very exciting, however."

"Well, tell me anyway," she said, and reached out to Ranma's forehead. She gently moved his bangs away from his eyes. "I like to hear what's going on with you."

Ranma blushed, just a bit. He wet his lips, and went on to describe the technique he was taught, dealing with bending spoons that weren't really there, even though they clearly were. He found it slightly amusing, but didn't really understand what's the big deal. Using his fingers, he could bend it a lot faster anyway. Kasumi listened to him, asking questions whenever he got too vague or too technical, all in all seeming genuinely interested in what he had to say. After Ranma's story was over, they just sat there at the table, staring at each other, their eyes wandering around the room for brief moments, but still always returning to one another in a very gentle, comfortable manner.

"I did miss you..."

"Now, stop it," said Kasumi, without any malice, anger, or humor. There was only a sadness, and it came out almost as if she had sighed it instead. She stood up, picking her apron and expertly donning it. "Akane will be back soon," she continued, and went back to tend to dinner.

"Yeah," mumbled Ranma, without much energy behind it, as if he was suddenly empty of something very needed or very wanted. He twiddled his fingers a bit, staring at them, and then at Kasumi, whose back was turned to him. She made very little sound as she moved across the length of the counter top, sorting the ingredients and checking the food already cooking. Her hair was tied back into her usual ponytail, a practical hairstyle that kept it out of the way as she did her household chores, with a minimal of fuss. She didn't always wear it like that, Ranma knew that, of course. She wore it down for special events and family outings, and on the few times he'd seen her go out with some of her friends. They weren't very many, he noticed, and she didn't go out many times.

Ranma looked down again, but not at his fingers this time. Of course, she'd also wear her hair down whenever they...

"Kasumi, I'm home!" shouted Akane from the entrance, startling Ranma half dead. Kasumi turned from her cooking and glided past to go greet her little sister. As she did so, Ranma noticed that she wore her usual expression of contentment.

"Why, hello Akane," Kasumi said, as she took sight of her sister removing her shoes at the entrance. "How was... Ranma?"

"I can't believe him," Akane said, motioning to the unconscious figure she'd been dragging. "He goes and finds himself yet another fiancée. Doesn't he know his limits?"

Kasumi stood there, looking at Ranma, then turned and hurried back into the kitchen.

"Kasumi?" Akane asked, surprised by her sister's reaction.

Soon, Kasumi came back, took another look at Ranma, and went back into the kitchen. When she came out this time, she was dragging along with her a boy in some very ragged clothes, a fine layer of dust still over most of him.

"Akane, I'm not going crazy, am I?"

"Kasumi, what's going on?" Ranma asked, straightening out his clothes. "Hey, who's that?"

Akane looked at Ranma, besides Kasumi, and Ranma, sprawled on the floor.


	4. Twin Arrows p2

**Twin****Arrows**

Part 2

"Well, it's not a mask," Kasumi declared. She had spent the last few minutes kneading and pulling his face, trying to see if it came off, and tugging at his hair. She had run her fingers down across his flesh all the way to his shoulders, slowly and methodically, checking for any signs of

the start of a mask. Finally, she simply gave up.

Ranma, Akane, and Kasumi were on the floor around the unconscious boy, whom they had dragged into the living room. Ranma was crosslegged while Akane and Kasumi were kneeling.

"Ranma," Akane began, in a tired voice, "did you do anything on this trip of yours that might explain this?"

Ranma thought hard about this. Maybe there was something that he forgot to tell Kasumi? He had a fairly normal training trip: He'd trained, then proceeded home, and then got lost doing it. Other than the incident with the spoon man, there really wasn't anything else unusual.

"I don't think so," he said, "and why is it automatically assumed that I got something to do with it?"

"Another you shows up and you wonder?" Akane asked. "Plus, when was the last time that something weird happened around here and it didn't involve you?"

"Well... Kuno and the guys at school were after you before I arrived," Ranma ventured.

Akane was slightly flustered, "Well, that doesn't count. After you arrived, nothing hasn't been your fault."

"What about all this stuff?" Kasumi motioned to the things that 'fake' Ranma had stuck in his shirt. A few letters, a photograph, a knife, and an extra bandanna. "What about her?" Kasumi said, picking up the photograph of Akari. "Maybe you met her while in your training trip? Maybe she has something to do with this?"

Ranma felt a chill run down his spine, but for the life of him couldn't figure out exactly why. "No," he answered, feeling colder by the second, "I would have remembered someone as cute as her."

"Oh, I see," Akane said. Ranma felt the temperature drop a few more degrees. "So, you think she's cute, huh?"

"Are- Aren't we getting off-topic here?" Ranma said, quickly, his sense of self-preservation suddenly making a glorious comeback. "We gotta figure out who this guy is, or what he is."

"Well, he was acting a bit strange," Akane confessed. "Thought he was Ryouga."

"Ah-hah!" exclaimed Ranma, triumphantly, "See? It was all Ryouga's fault!" Finally something that could be blamed on that guy without any sort of doubt in his mind. It was a good feeling, and he wondered for how long it would last.

Akane looked doubtful, but not totally. It could be related to Ryouga somehow. She found him standing over his body, after all. Who knows what was going on there? She had assumed that it was Ranma then; that they were just fighting as they always did. She shivered. What if something more sinister was afoot?

"Well," Kasumi said, bringing into view a bucket full of water, "if he has your body, do you think that maybe he's also cursed?"

They all looked at one another. As one, they shrugged. What harm could it do? At the very least they'd get him awake to ask him a few questions.

For Ranma, the boy that had, until very recently, always recognized himself as Ryouga, the world was a confusing mixture of images superimposed on blue. The images were blurry and fast, moving slowly in no particular pattern. He could tell that they were people but no sound came from them. All around him there was a dull roar, its pitch changing at a seemingly regular interval. Suddenly, out of the blueness came a terrified screaming piggy, black in color and small in stature.

Kasumi hefted the bucket and upended it over the fake Ranma. She tried to, at least. Fake Ranma suddenly woke up and rolled out of the way as the water came splashing down.

"He's cursed," stated Ranma, no hint of surprise in his voice.

"Ah! A-Akane!" shouted the fake Ranma, scrambling to his feet, "Kasumi! Hi! Hey, who are you?" The last part being obviously directed at Ranma.

"I'm Ranma, faker. Who the heck are you?"

"I'm Ra- no, wait. I'm Ry- no, I'm not that either." Fake Ranma dropped to the floor, sitting in a pensive pose. He always thought he was Ryouga, but Akane said he was Ranma. Now, here is someone who looked just like him, saying he was Ranma, while Ranma was out there saying he was Ryouga. He couldn't be Ryouga, because there was a Ryouga saying he was Ranma, and a Ranma saying he was Ryouga. He couldn't be Ranma, because Ranma was saying he was Ryouga, and there was a Ryouga saying he was Ranma. If he was Ranma, then who was Ryouga? Ryouga or Ranma? And if he was Ryouga, who was Ranma? Ranma or Ryouga?

"Argh!" he shouted, getting up, "Who in the world am I now? Ranma, this is all your fault!"

"See?" Akane said to Ranma, in a stage whisper.

"Hey, don't pin this on me. I already said I don't know who this is."

"I'm Ryouga," he half-screamed, pointing to himself.

"Ryouga? Damn, man, what happened to you? Why do you look like me?" Ranma said, getting close to Ryouga's face and examining it, well, closely.

"He's not Ryouga!" Akane shouted, bonking Ranma, "I saw him with Ryouga! Weren't you listening to anything I said?"

Ranma looked at Akane for a few moments. Unfortunately, these were one of those questions when, regardless of what he answered, he was in for it. If he admitted that he had indeed been listening, then she'd ask why he was believing this fake Ranma over her, following through with a boot to the head, or more than likely an empty bucket to the noggin. If he admitted that he was, in fact, totally ignoring what she was saying due to being engrossed at that very moment on comparing the size of this other Ranma's teeth with his, she'd get somehow insulted about him not paying attention to her, and he'd get clobbered anyway.

Not that Ranma was actually thinking about the repercussions of his act; he just paused to digest her question fully before answering.

"Well, no. Not really."

Kasumi directed her attention to the fake Ranma, who was watching the resulting carnage with a somewhat subdued interest.

"Would you like some tea, Mr. Doppleganger?" she said, trying her best to keep her back to the horrible screams of pain that were emanating from somewhere five feet in front of Doppleganger.

"I'm not Doppleganger," Doppleganger said.

"Yeah, Kasumi," Ranma said, as Akane had already calmed down and gone back to her place. He scratched behind his left ear with his right foot, a feat totally unremarkable, considering the position that Akane had left him in after her storm of righteousness. "He's one of those, whaddayacallem, things that copy your body."

"That's what a doppleganger is, you jerk," Akane said, in a huff.

"No, I'm thinking of something else. Beings that take your shape, you know," Ranma said, untangling himself.

"Hey," Doppleganger interjected, a bit louder, "I said, 'I'm not a doppleganger.'"

"Actually," Kasumi said, quickly, "You said you weren't Doppleganger, not that you weren't 'a' doppleganger."

Akane and Doppleganger looked at Kasumi for a moment. She smiled sweetly back at them. After all, they were staring at her. They should know better than doing such a rude thing, and if they didn't realize it soon, she'd have to do some more smiling. Sooner or later they'd feel awkward and stop staring at her.

"A mime! That's what you are!" shouted Ranma in triumphant delight.

Mime lunged forward and knocked Ranma upside the head. "Will you stop being so stupid?" he shouted. Mime was having quite enough of all this ... this ... well, this bizarre situation. After all, he was Mime, dammit. Wait a second.

"That's right," Kasumi said, admonishing Ranma, "He's a doppleganger, after all, not a mime." Then, she went right back at smiling.

"That's right!" agreed Doppleganger, before realizing what he said. "No, wait. Listen, dammit, I'm not a doppleganger!"

Ranma stood up, brushing his bangs off his forehead. The bangs, having plans that no man on earth could ever lead astray, went right back to his forehead. "Enough," he said, his voice suddenly serious. "I think I finally understand what's going on here."

"You do?" came a very small whisper from fake Ranma, hope building in his chest.

"Yes," replied Ranma, and then struck a dramatic pose, pointing his finger straight at fake Ranma, his whole body anchored on the ground, like an epic hero. "You are here to challenge me for the dojo!" He even had a wave crash behind him, for effect.

"Oh, my, will you be fighting in here?" asked Kasumi, suddenly worried. Thursdays weren't a good day for duels, so she seriously hoped that this challenger, Mr. Doppleganger, were here just to give the formal challenge today, and come back at a later date, when she could have made all the necessary arrangements around the house in anticipation of a battle.

Ryouga screamed, and barreled towards Ranma. "Okay, Ranma I've had enough!"

He grabbed a hold of Ranma's face, specifically his cheeks, and tried to pull it all off.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Ranma asked, his words a bit garbled due to the rough handling currently in progress of his face.

"I should have seen it sooner," Ryouga answered, fully certain at the moment of who he was, "you always do this to me! Well, I've seen through your disguise," he said, still struggling to get that damned mask off.

Finally, it came off with a loud rip, and Ryouga had in his hands a handful (well, two handfuls, to be exact) of flesh-colored rubber, leaving Ranma with a surprised expression. He quickly turned that expression into a nervous smile, and his false teeth fell off in that gesture. He admitted

his guilt, and Ryouga pummeled him into the afterlife. He went to Akari and got married, but since he'd deprived Akane of a suitor, he'd take her as his mistress, and have a healthy relationship with both of them for the rest of his life.

Or that's what he hoped would happen. In truth, Ranma kept struggling against the doppleganger mime who was certainly going to challenge him for the dojo, continually screaming for him to 'Leggo my face!' and other phrases along that vein. Finally, Ranma bit the other's thumb as it made its way inside his mouth. The doppleganger who, for a brief moment, was

certain he was Ryouga, yelped and snapped his hand away from Ranma's face. Seeing an opening, Ranma delivered a quick jab aimed straight at Doppleganger's left eye.

The jab didn't do much, though, as the crazed (and that was pretty much literally) boy barely flinched at the impact.

"Very well, you doppleganging challenger mime from hell! Let's see how you take this!" screamed Ranma, or at least he tried to. You try screaming coherent words while someone is grabbing a good portion of one of the sides of your face, sticking his fingers in your eye and nose. Instead, it came out more like "Bakarayo! Jyaa, Mitsurugi!"

With a scream of "Kachuu tenshin amaguriken!" ("Cashew tension in the gutter", as it came out) Ranma let loose with a volley of punches at his opponent.

As soon as the punches ended, his opponent said "Why won't this mask come off?" frustration evident in his voice. Otherwise, nothing seemed to have changed at all, and suddenly Ranma realized that this wasn't a joke; this was serious.

A cold wave went through Ranma. "Maybe this is it," he thought, "maybe I won't be able to defeat this crazy doppleganger summoned from hell to challenge me and take over my identity, forever banishing my soul into the gray void." He saw Kasumi standing over him, a bright light behind her, silhouetting her shape. Gone was the pain, the struggle. It was finally over.

"Aw, what a cute little piggy," he heard Kasumi said, cradling in her arms a little black piglet. Besides her was a second bucket, recently emptied.

"How cute!" agreed Akane, approaching Kasumi and petting the little piggy. "Who's a good little hoggy oggy doggy? You are, yes you are!" she said in babytalk, playing with his ears as she did so.

The pig, on the other hand, seemed to be catatonic, frozen in a state of horrible, indescribable panic. Most people say they feel their blood drain from their faces in times of panic, but in this little pig's case, the blood just plain stopped. Huge eyes stared straight at Akane, his hooves

spread out and stiff.

"So," said Ranma, pulling her shirt off her drenched breasts, "he fell into the spring of drowned pork."

"Bwee," came the strangled whimper from the pig.

"Well, what do we do now?" Akane asked no one in particular, referring to the little porcine creature.

"Don't worry," Ranma said, strutting confidently towards Kasumi, "I'll take care of it." She then proceeded to grab the little hog.

Akane stared for a while. "Ranma," she asked, "what are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" she replied, "I'm going to mail him to Germany, what else?" Indeed, he was at that point trying to stuff the little pig on a little crate already filled with packing material.

"I really think," Kasumi said, hastily picking up the pig, "that we could try talking to him now. Will you behave?" That last being directed towards the piglet, who weakly nodded.

"Well, that's good. Akane, could you pass the kettle?"

Soon, a very damp and red Ryouga was on the floor, facing Akane, bowing. He was damp because he'd been drenched in hot water, since everyone in the room already knew how to trigger the curse, having had plenty of experience. He was very red for a couple of reasons: first, the water was exceptionally hot, and it scalded his soft, tender flesh. Second, he was still naked, and in front of two point five girls. Lastly, he was bowing for obvious reasons.

"Akane, I'm so sorry," he said.

"Whatever for?" the girl asked, slightly confused. "And put some clothes on, please."

Ryouga looked up to Akane. Other than a slight blush and avoiding looking directly at him, there was nothing there that demonstrated any sort of anger or indignation. She really didn't care that he was P-Chan. All that time, torturing himself over the thought of premature discovery, and now, nothing?

"You ... you don't mind?" he asked, still half-prone.

"Well, yeah, actually," she replied, "that's why I'm asking you to put some clothes on."

She pointed to the neat pile of clothes near him, and he obligingly dressed himself.

"How about we start with your name?" Kasumi offered, "Who are you?"

After a few seconds of indecision, he responded. "I'm Ryouga Hibiki. Or at least, that's what I thought until today. Now I just don't know anymore."

So, he told them everything that had happened that day, from meeting Kasumi in the street, to being suddenly attacked by Ranma, who looked like him, to now. Akane questioned him about the ringchain, which he had omitted from the story, and he described how he found it besides a trash can. Only after additional prodding did he add the detail about the confrontation with that crazy foreigner.

"So, basically, he threw it away and you picked it up afterwards?" Akane asked, piecing all the details of his story together.

"Well, no," Ryouga explained, "he threw something in the trash, and then I found this near some other trash can, in another direction."

Akane smiled. "You saw him throw it on some trash can, right?" Ryouga nodded. "Then, you turned around, went in another direction?" Ryouga nodded once more. "Where you found the ring thing?" He nodded again.

"Oh, so that must have definitely been the same ringchain in that case," said Kasumi.

"Still," Akane interjected, "We went to see Cologne about this, and at least according to her, it isn't anything more than a strange piece of jewelry."

"Why are you humoring this demon-sent shapechanging pig?" Ranma asked, a very cute frown on her face.

"Will you change back to a man? You're freaking me out!" Ryouga said. Seeing yourself as a very pretty young woman was definitely not at the top of Ryouga's to do list.

"Hey, I'll change back when I'm good and ready!" Ranma replied. Truth is, she had been good and ready for a while now, but decided to wait until all this conversation was over before changing, as Akane hadn't put enough water in the kettle for two people. Considering her father usually didn't mind staying in his panda form, kettles were usually left at the bare minimum so that they would boil faster. Still, why should she give any satisfaction to this imitator by letting him know that?

"What about you? Dressing like that dork, put on some real clothes." Ranma crumpled her tiny nose. Bad enough to have someone with your face around, but to have them dressed like a constant nuisance made it worse, and considering his opponent's sense of style, it made it unbearable.

"Guys," Akane said in a dangerous tone, "can you two quit it? Ranma, there is nothing wrong with...uh..." Akane looked slightly flustered for a moment, then just blurted out, "Say, what do we call you, anyway?"

"Ryouga," Ryouga replied.

"Well, you might be... OK, let me explain what I think happened. I- I might be wrong, but hear me out, OK?" She took a deep breath, and continued, "You may be Ryouga Hibiki, but you are not *our* Ryouga Hibiki. You're probably from some sort of different plane, or mirror dimension. Some bizarre place where you and Ranma - your Ranma - were switched at birth."

The other three bodies in the room were silent for a few moments, and then Ryouga piped up, "Mirror dimension? But you and Kasumi are still the same."

"Well, whatever the name is. I don't know," Akane said, angrily. "The concept is the important thing. You are not in your own universe. There. That better? Now you see why we can't call you Ryouga?"

"Not really. What's wrong with my name?"

"Well, we can't go around calling you and Ryouga the same, can we?" Akane asked.

"Why not?" Kasumi replied, "It's not like I'm the only Kasumi around, and you have no problem calling me by my name."

"But not two Kasumi Tendo's, in close proximity, who look exactly the same," replied an exasperated Akane.

"Why not call him Ryouga Two?" Ranma suggested.

"Why not really humiliate me and call me Ryouga B?" came back the angry reply.

Before Ranma could sound off his "Hey, that sounds even better!" reply, Akane took it upon herself to put an end to this silly discussion.

"Please stop," Kasumi pleaded, before Akane could take it upon herself to put an end to this silly discussion, "Why not just call you Hibiki? We never call Ryouga that, and it is still your name."

"Yeah, how about it?" Akane agreed.

Hibiki felt a bit uncomfortable at the suggestion. Dammit, he was Ryouga, why couldn't the other guy change his name? Specially when that other guy was Ranma. Well, kinda Ranma. He was Ranma in this place. He thought he got that much straightened out. Still if both Kasumi and Akane, specially Akane, considered it a good alternative, he could live with that.

"Wait," Hibiki asked, "what did you mean, 'switched at birth?'"

Ryouga munched absentmindedly on a mouthful of mocchi and kept on walking. He was on a very deserted street, houses to the left and right of him. He had undone his pigtail into the loose ponytail he favored and was now in the process of deciding what to do. Go home? Mom and dad wouldn't be around, and it wasn't as if he was looking for solitude at the moment. His homework was already done, which left him with a free afternoon. It was supposed to have been a good day, a simple day. He was supposed to have gone over to the Tendo residence and asked if Ranma had returned from his training trip. Had the answer been yes, he would have

challenged him to a duel while he was still in town. If the answer were no, he'd get a chance to talk to Akane without that jerk around to bother them.

He punched a wall to his left, angry, leaving a neat round hole behind. Just thinking about Ranma got his temper up. That womanizer already had three other beautiful fiancées that he knew of, if he just let Akane go, if he let her see that there was someone there, right beneath her

nose, that cared for her more than he ever could...

Ryouga ignored the broom connected to his head, the other end held by the owner of the wall, and stopped his train of thought. It was exactly because he was so into it that things went so wrong today. He was so much into his own thoughts that when he saw Ranma getting out of that porta-potty he just went wild. He totally forgot what his plans were, and because of Ranma, he looked like a weakling in front of Akane.

Well, no matter. He would get his revenge soon. As he arrived at the gates of the Tendo residence, he had already convinced himself that he was only defeated as a fluke. He had been training continuously since he had last seen Ranma, there was no way he could have improved so much in such a short time, and he'd prove it right now.

"Oh, hello Ryouga, you haven't been around lately."

Ryouga looked behind him, finding the source of the voice. "Nabiki. Hi," he said, "Yeah, well, he hasn't been around lately, though, ain't it?"

"Still isn't," she said, bringing her suitcase before her, "He hasn't come back from his 'training trip'."

"Actually, he is," Ryouga replied, "I just hope he hasn't gone off anywhere yet."

Nabiki didn't look surprised by these news, and continued, "Well, just try not to break any of my stuff this time, OK?"

Having said all that, Nabiki went into the house, followed by Ryouga.

"So, I'm Genma's son," Hibiki said, no sign of anger or shock in his voice.

"There is no other explanation," Akane said, placing her hand on his. Kasumi had left to boil some more water. Not for Ranma, although that would be useful, but because she was making tea for everyone. She just felt that these sort of discussions would go a lot easier with

something nice to drink.

"I'm sorry," Ranma commented, and he meant it. He also felt a pang of jealousy as he saw Akane and Hibiki hold hands, his stomach aching and grumbling. Wait, that was hunger, not jealousy.

"That's probably the change in your dimension that caused all the other differences," Akane said.

"No," Hibiki replied, although in the back of his mind, he couldn't help asking himself if this had anything to do with Ranma - better yet, Ryouga - being such a wimp here. Could it be that the only reason that Ranma - his Ranma - became so strong was because of his father? Was Genma really such a good trainer? If that was true, then this Ranma, his own counterpart, should be incredibly strong. Well, he wasn't an unbalanced individual, crazy on always being the best, he simply became a fighter to be able to extract righteous retribution from Ranma's skin. He wasn't interested in knowing if this Ranma was stronger than him; it really didn't matter.

"So, wanna spar?"

"Sure!"


	5. Twin Arrows p3

**Twin****Arrows**

Part 3

"Spar?" Akane shouted. "What's wrong with the two of you? We need to find out how to get Hibiki back to his own world!"

"Well, how do you know that sparring won't somehow transport him back?" Ranma asked, moving some of her bangs out of the way.

"W-well... I don't," Akane started, then stopped. "Look, not even you believe that."

"Well, what else can we do?" Ranma said, "It's not as if you have any better ideas."

Before Akane could say anything else, they were interrupted by a couple of new arrivals into the room, namely Nabiki and Ryouga. They both took a look at the situation and reacted in pretty much the same manner:

"I'll be upstairs," Nabiki said.

"You know what? Screw it. I'll come back later," said Ryouga, turning around to leave.

So, basically, neither of them decided to get involved in this mess. Frankly, no one would blame them.

"Ryouga, wait up," Ranma said, rushing over before he had a chance to get out. Ryouga did his best to ignore her, speeding up. Ranma, on her part, simply got herself in between him and the exit.

"Ryouga, wait," she repeated.

Ryouga sighed. Why, oh, why did he always seem to get into all sorts of weird situations due to Saotome? "What is it?" he asked, giving up.

"Do you know for a fact that sparring won't transfer someone back to their home dimension?"

"Ranma, you idiot!" Akane shouted, upending a table on his head. Once Ranma was down for the count, Akane addressed Ryouga. "Sorry. Things are a bit hectic here," she said, motioning towards Hibiki, who was calmly sitting down on the floor, near where the table used to be.

"Hi," Hibiki said, "Sorry about earlier."

"That's... that's OK," Ryouga replied. To Akane, he said "So, which one is the real Ranma?"

"I am," came the strangled reply from underneath the table that both Ryouga and Akane were now standing on.

So, I didn't get beaten by the real Ranma, Ryouga thought, looking Hibiki and immediately realizing that it had to have been the one dressed as him at the moment. Well, that wasn't so bad, all things considered. It would have been a lot worse had it been Ranma.

"So, is he real or some sort of demon-sent fiancée who wants to challenge Ranma for the dojo?" Ryouga asked.

"HEY!" came two shouts, one from Hibiki and the other from Ranma, who was struggling to get out from under the table.

"I'm not a demon!" Hibiki shouted.

"I'm not gay!" shouted Ranma.

Hibiki looked slightly confused for a few seconds, then realized something. "Hey, did he just call me your fiancé?"

"Look," Ryouga said, addressing Ranma, "it's not as it would be the first time, you know..."

"Yes it would!"

"Hey, I'm not gay either!" said Hibiki.

"What about Ukyo?" Ryouga said.

"Oh. Well, that was different," Ranma said. She had already gotten out from under the table (no thanks to Ryouga and Akane, who hadn't moved an inch to help), and took the time to dust herself off.

"You know, I just answered to the whole demon comment first because it was the first thing he said. It's got nothing to do with my sexual orientation."

"And what about Picollo, or whatever that guy's name was?" Ryouga continued.

"Wait, that was Akane's fiancé, I just got stuck in everything to help her out," Ranma replied.

"I would have eventually gotten around to replying to that, you know."

"So, if he's not your fiancé," Ryouga said, "then what exactly is he?"

Akane decided to interrupt, considering she was pretty sure she understood the situation better than Ranma did.

"Oh, he's Hibiki. He's from another dimension," Kasumi said as she came into the room, before Akane had a chance to interrupt. Akane glared at her older sister for a moment. That made it twice she'd done a preemptive interruption. Kasumi proceeded to pour the hot water she had gotten on Ranma's head. She stared for a second, then splashed him with a glass of cold water.

"Hey," Ranma shouted, back as a girl, but now twice as soaked, "what was that for?"

"It's easier to tell you two apart like this," Kasumi replied, calmly.

"Why do you call him Hibiki? Wouldn't 'Ranma 2' be more appropriate?" Ryouga asked, giving up on his intent of staying as far away from this mess as was humanly possible.

"Well," Akane began, before her sister had a chance to open her mouth, "it's a short, but very confusing story."

She proceeded to retell all the events as they were understood by everyone present as well as who exactly was that second Ranma dressed up like Ryouga. All in all, Ryouga seemed to take this all in pretty well.

"Well, I guess you got lucky," Ryouga told Hibiki, who had stayed silent for pretty much the entirety of Akane's presentation (she had even whipped out a few flowcharts). "I mean, to get switched at birth and end up with parents that also have your rotten sense of direction, that's pretty cool."

"Hmm... I don't know if I'd call myself 'lucky'," Hibiki said. There was something that still bugged him about the idea of being switched at birth. Something... off. "Actually, I know I wouldn't call myself lucky. Life pretty filled with misfortune, overall. Most of it caused by my Ranma."

He looked at the assembled teenagers sitting across from him.

"I'm still having trouble figuring out which one of you two," he pointed at Ranma and Ryouga, "I should be mad at right now."

"Well, neither, really, if you've been following what we've been deducing," Akane said.

"That's a tough one. It *is* normally Ranma's fault...", said Ryouga.

"I just wish you didn't have that face while you said that," Hibiki finished, dejected. "I agree with you so much and I just feel like punching you because of how you look."

"Seriously, I think you are really focusing on the wrong things right now," Akane stated, trying to steer their energies towards less idiotic things. "Anyone have any ideas on what to do next?"

They looked at each other for a while. Kasumi had a very odd look on her face and had no intention of adding anything to the conversation at this point. Akane was wondering whether Dr. Tofu would actually have any useful insight with this new information. Ranma was just about to renew the sparring suggestion when Ryouga piped up.

"Not that I don't believe what you're saying or anything, but what about taking Bandanna Ranma here to a shrine to make sure he's not a demon?" Ryouga looked straight at Ranma, and then continued, "And don't worry, I can make sure you don't get lost on the way there."

"Oh, hah. Funny," Ranma stated without humor. Before he could issue a comeback, Akane stepped in.

"Is that OK, Hibiki?" she laid her hand gently on his arm, "it doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually. They might be able to help in some fashion, maybe."

Hibiki's face flushed red at her touch and, not trusting his voice, simply nodded his agreement.

"Great", said Ryouga, "let's go already so we can get this whole thing resolved." He stood up and motioned to Ranma. "Seriously, though. Stay close, don't get lost."

"Shut up, fleabag," Ranma muttered.

"What did you call me?" Ryouga growled and grabbed Ranma's shirt.

"You heard me. What's the matter? Itchy in all the wrong places today?"

"Ranma, stop picking on Ryouga. Hibiki, come on," Akane said, grabbing Hibiki by the hand and dragging him out of the room, "We'll meet you two boys at the shrine when you stop being..." she searched for the right word to describe how she felt at the moment, "boys."

Watching his fiancée dragging Hibiki outside, Ranma started to disentangle himself from Ryouga. "Whoa, wait up, Akane, don't do anything stupid!" If that guy was indeed a demon then being alone with him could be a very fatal mistake. He dashed off after them, with Ryouga close on his heels, their fight postponed until later.

Kasumi was alone. After a few minutes, she looked up, as if dazed, and made a note of that fact. She stood up and very carefully walked herself to the kitchen. She looked around. She put some water in a pan, and the pan on the stove. She selected a few vegetables. She washed them, and started to peel them. Her movements were careful and methodical.

She had barely registered most of the conversation after a certain point but under the circumstances, it was perhaps best to consider it excusable. There was one point that she simply couldn't overlook and she had been hard at work trying to figure out all the implications since Akane brought it up.

Switched at birth?

That didn't make any sense. I mean, it did, sure. Not for Hibiki, though. Ryouga's parents had no sense of direction. None. Neither did Ranma. Hibiki had parents that had an evolutionarily-dangerous idea of which way to go, and he seemed to share that. Privately, Kasumi always assumed that Ranma's problem with directions came from some of Genma's secret training methods or else simply from falling on his head too many times. Who knew? Now, Hibiki, who was biologically the same as Ranma, but with an entirely different upbringing, had the exact same problem?

This wasn't a learned behavior. This wasn't a training accident affecting his brain functions. This had to have been common before any switch happened. The only way that could realistically happen is if it was a part of his very being. From his parents.

Hibiki wasn't switched at birth; Ranma was.

Her Ranma wasn't Ranma Saotome. He was Ranma Hibiki. She had never seen pictures of Ryouga's parents but she was now convinced that if she ever did, the similarities between Ranma and them would be much greater than Ryouga's. Genma didn't look much like either of them. She'd have to find pictures of him while young to see if that was always the case.

If he was Ranma Hibiki, then he couldn't be forced into the engagement. All he'd need to do is acknowledge the fact that he was the wrong person. He wouldn't need to be reintegrated back into the Hibiki family. It would be enough for him to not be Saotome anymore. It would then be up to Ryouga and the Saotomes to decide whether or not Ryouga would want to grab the mantle of heir to the Saotome debts.

Ranma could escape the engagement free and clear. Free and clear.

And without a family.

Would the Hibikis accept their long-lost son? What would happen to Ryouga? Would they accept to keep them both if neither wanted to stay with the Saotome family?

Would Ranma want to give up any claim to anything dealing with the Saotomes? Any inheritance he might have, any titles that his father might bestow, anything related to the Saotome school of indiscriminate grappling? And Akane? What would happen to Akane if all this were revealed?

Kasumi felt her eyes start to grow warm. So many questions. So many things to think about. So much she had to get straight and figured out before anyone else caught on.

She knew Ryouga liked Akane. If offered to be adopted by Genma and take Ranma's spot in the engagement, he might well accept. Or not. Ranma could be left homeless, though, a ronin adrift in the wind, with nothing and no one in the world. Except for her. The worst case scenario could cause so much pain to everyone, and all because she hadn't wanted to cause pain to her sister to begin with.

A sharp pain on her finger derailed her thoughts and she noticed that he had cut herself lightly while chopping up some leek. She put the knife down. She shouldn't be in the kitchen in her current state. She needed to clear her head, first. Somewhere safer, somewhere calmer. Putting pressure on her finger, she slowly made her way to her room.

She wouldn't call their love accidental; it would be an insult to Akane to do so and a belittling of their emotions. It was gradual. Ranma's sense of direction meant that he often ended up 'elsewhere'. The only constant is that he tended to make his way back to the Tendo household eventually. At odd hours. In the middle of the day, while school was in. Early morning when only Kasumi would be up, or be the only one to wake up. A few minutes after the school summer trip left the bus station, that sort of thing.

Since Kasumi was the one guaranteed to be at home, a small routine emerged where he would nearly collapse into the house, Kasumi would give him some food, and he'd tell her of what he had seen and the places he'd been. Their time alone was variable but Ryouga would almost never try to cut them short. He'd be simply too scared to go out and try to find where he meant to go in the first place and simply get more lost. Scared and embarrassed at the eventual humiliation of failing once again to make it to his destination.

Out of all his school trips, he only made it to one, and it was coincidentally, as he was actually following Ranma who was, in turn, trying to get close to Akane.

In the end, their relationship grew from these moments of solitude. With no one forcing them together, Ranma grew to think of Kasumi as a very close friend, and eventually, as more than that. Kasumi found herself finding Ranma more and more interesting, their difference in age growing lesser in her mind.

Kasumi blushed slightly. It had been her fault, she acknowledged it. She had gone off with friends for a weekend to enjoy the hot springs in the mountains. Ryouga had been gone for two days already when she took off but Genma was confident that he'd turn up within the week; Genma learned early on that if it wasn't important enough for a full-scale manhunt, it wasn't worth trying to track his boy.

Well, he ended up showing up on the hot springs the next day. Rather than let him venture off in search for home on his own she decided that they'd stick close and go home together.

It was her fault; she knew that. She didn't put any blame at all on her friends. Ranma had just sat by himself all night nursing a glass of milk while Kasumi and her friends enjoyed some karaoke and more than a few drinks, peer pressure perhaps getting her to drink a bit more than she expected. Later Ranma tried to take her back to her room and they ended up outside the inn. She was giggling pretty badly at that point, feeling tipsy just enough to be greatly enjoying being led around by Ranma without caring enough to correct his wrong turns. Looking at his face, noticing the mixture of embarrassment over their predicament and the worry over her condition, Kasumi just couldn't help herself. She giggled one more time.

"You're so kind", she whispered softly, repeating to herself what she told him that night.

She had already been leaning against him as he tried to find her room. It was easy to slip her arms around his neck and land a light peck on his lips. Her breath felt hot as she mumbled that her room was the second door to the right if they went back the way they came from.

She woke up the next morning alone in her room still wearing the same clothes as the night before but comfortably in her futon. Ranma was asleep outside her door, having anchored himself by wrapping a chain around his leg and through a hole in the ground, very clearly freshly made.

Kasumi was mortified. It had been her fault. Thoughts of what she had done to Akane and Ranma were battering at her, unrelenting. She was in tears before Ranma managed to calm her down. The train ride home was a very silent one. He refused to ignore the kiss, though, and eventually it was repeated, alcohol not invited to the party this time.

They were switched at birth, and no one has figured it out yet. That would change, though. It was just a matter of time. She had until then to think and plan and decide on what the right decision was and what decision she would ultimately take. She had until then before all hell broke loose.

It was her fault and she needed to fix this.

"We're home!" exclaimed Akane as the entered the household. With her was Ranma, still as a girl, carrying a black piglet.

"Welcome home, Akane dear," intoned her father from within. "How was your day?"

Akane finished putting on her house slippers. Obviously her father and (she safely assumed) Mr. Saotome were back home. She started to wonder whether she was going to be forced to bring out the whiteboard again to explain just what exactly had happened today.

"It was fine, dad," Akane replied, "although we might end up dealing with a bit more Ranma than usual."

"Well," Ranma told the little piglet in her arms while Akane headed towards her father with a large whiteboard in tow, "you're not a demon, at least. That shrine priest was convinced that we both have some weird curse, though. Who knew, eh, little piggy?"

Hibiki sighed a little piggy sigh.

"So I need to take care of TWO Ranmas now?" asked a dismayed Genma.

"No, no, no," answered a very frustrated Akane, "for the fifth time, he's not another Ranma, he's another Ryouga. He just LOOKS like Ranma."

"So, boy," Soun directed this to Hibiki, having grasped the situation much more quickly, "if I understand this correctly, you do not have a place to stay while visiting our fine upstanding world, is that true?"

By now, both Hibiki and Ranma were back to their normal forms, with Ranma assuring Kasumi that no, they would be able to tell each other apart just fine, there was no need to keep him female just for that. Ryouga had gone home from the shrine, deciding that he had done his part and there was really nothing else he could do at the moment. He considered stealthily keeping an eye on Akane to prevent what he saw as two Ranma's taking advantage of her pure kind heart, but considering that Hibiki's personality was so close to his own he felt much safer leaving this mess alone for now.

Hibiki frowned and thought for a bit, while Akane tried to explain just what was going on to Mr. Saotome, off to the side. "Yeah, I guess that's true. Then again, that tends to be true in my world as well, so I wasn't particularly worried about it." He pointed at the pack, sitting in the corner. "I'm used to living off my supplies, so I should be fine."

"Actually, that's my pack," Ranma stated, "Yours is the one over there."

"Nevertheless," Soun said, raising a hand, "you have been given a clean bill of health, right? Not a demon?"

Hibiki nodded.

"Well, then, feel free to stay here. You seem like a nice boy and I'm sure that Ranma could use the competition. You may even share his room."

Hibiki and Ranma looked at each other.

"I'm sorry," Hibiki said, politely raising his hand, "do you mean, like, that Ranma would enjoy a sparring partner?"

"Yes, that too."

"Well, what else-" Hibiki started, never to finish.

"Alright! I think Mr. Saotome finally understands what's going on," Akane said with a satisfied sigh, as she sat back down near the trio of still-conscious men. Off to the side there was a very unconscious panda with a broken whiteboard suspiciously situated near his head.

Ranma looked at the scene. "Are you sure he-"

"I said he knows what's up and everyone else here knows as well! Do you want me to explain it to you like I did to him?"

"No, no. That's fine. That's totally fine," said a very rapidly retreating Ranma.

Soun Tendo chuckled to himself. If only his friend Genma had his quick wit he'd see just what a golden opportunity this was. Two Ranmas! All they would have to do was recommend that Akane help this other Ranma, this "Hibiki", spend some time with him, perhaps show him some of the sights to compare against his world's sights, to generate intense feelings of jealousy from Ranma.

A jealous Ranma was a good Ranma, as it could do nothing but bring their two families together. If, impossibly, the boy didn't react or his dear sweet Akane became enamoured of this alternate Ranma (Hibiki), then that would still be salvageable! Two Ranmas, after all. It didn't matter which one his daughter ended up with, they would still have a winning combination on their hands.

_Ah__, __Soun_, he thought, chuckling to himself, _You__haven__'__t__lost__your__touch__._

Hibiki lay awake on his futon, unable to fall asleep. This was due partially to wondering just what exactly was going to happen to him, but mostly due to his roommates' championship-level snoring. He didn't feel like fighting right now but staying close to 'Ranma' and Genma at the moment wasn't improving his mood any. He shuffled off his cover and decided to take his chances with a short walk. He paused with his hand on the door, then headed back to his pack. After searching for some time, he found the ringchain and stuffed it in his pocket. It was best if he didn't let his sole link to his universe get lost or get too far away from him.

Giving his pocket a pat to reassure himself of the safety of the ringchain, he put his hand on the door and slid it open. He stepped into the dark corridor and closed it behind him.

Thankfully the Tendo household had the exact same layout as the one he was used to. Even if he got slightly turned around he was confident he'd be able to get back into his room once he felt ready to brave the guttural symphony roaring in his room. For now, his goal was to get a glass of water from the kitchen and then just sit on the patio outside until he felt ready to return to the guest bedroom.

He turned right and started silently down the stairs. As he neared the bottom rung, he was confronted with an unexpected vision.

"Hey Kasumi," he said, keeping his voice low.

Kasumi looked up, a bit startled. She was wearing a nightgown with a thin bathrobe. A soon she saw him, her hands darted to her robe and she closed it a bit more and double checked the knot at her waist.

"Hey," Kasumi replied, eyeing him carefully. She brushed a loose strand out of the way with her left hand. "You're Hibiki, right? Not Ranma."

"Right," Hibiki replied. He hadn't expected anyone else to be up, but at least with Kasumi the potential for trouble was minimal. Kasumi looked away, staring at something on the ground.

"I'm, uh, just getting some water," Hibiki said, as neither of them moved. "Getting some air, having a hard time sleeping. You know how it is."

Kasumi still didn't move nor did she meet his eyes, intent on focusing on nothing, as far as Hibiki could tell, but focusing very strongly nonetheless. Hibiki stayed put for a few more seconds and then very slowly started to make his way around Kasumi. Maybe the potential for trouble was minimal, but that didn't mean it was non-existent.

"Hey, Hi-Hibiki?" Kasumi said, hesitantly, after he'd made his way past her.

"Uh, yeah?"

She turned to face him fully. She seemed to be struggling with something, her brow creased in concentration.

"Are you happy?" Kasumi said, continuing before Hibiki could answer, "In your world? Where you come from? Are you happy there?"

Hibiki was struck dumb for a few seconds. Happy? That certainly wouldn't be how he would describe his life. Cursed, tormented, hunted, cooked, depressing, unfairly beaten up... all very good ways to describe his life.

"Uh, I guess... not?"

"So, hm, so," Kasumi struggled to come up with the right words, "if you had to stay here, do you think you could be happy? Here, that is?" She asked in a small voice, wringing her robe's belt as she did so.

Hibiki gave this some thought. Happy here? He didn't really see how this world was any better than his normal one. If he stayed he'd be completely unnecessary, with no place anywhere. Being a better fighter than this world's Ranma and Ryouga gave him a small measure of satisfaction, but that didn't exactly fill him with happiness. These weren't the people who made his life hell and, lately, merely annoying. Why would Kasumi be asking him this, though? Gradually, wait, no, suddenly, realization dawned on him. She was worried that he might try to replace either Ranma or Ryouga in this world.

"Oh, Kasumi," he said, waving his hands, "don't worry, I'm not actually trying to stay here. I am looking forward to going back home. I mean, I might not be **happy** happy there, but, well," he blushed slightly, thinking of Akari and her picture still safely within his shirt and continued, "but it's home. I belong there. Sorry if I seem to be sad or depressed, it's nothing to do with you guys. I'm sure we'll find a way for me to go back," he lied.

Kasumi didn't meet his eyes, but for brow was smooth now. "So, you're sure you want to go back." It was a statement, not a question, which didn't stop Hibiki from nodding in agreement.

Kasumi nodded, as well. "How about Akane? Is she happy? Did she end up getting engaged with Ranma as well?"

Hibiki's expression hardened a bit as he answered, "Yeah. She's happy. She's with Ranma, not that he deserves her."

"How about me?"

Hibiki stared back, unsure what she meant. What about Kasumi? The hairs at the base of his neck were starting to stand up, a feeling that there was something very out of place here making itself known.

"Am I happy, in your world?" she continued, her head tilted downwards, her eyes small as she looked at the ground.

Hibiki took a good look at Kasumi, standing in front of him in the gloom. He was only slightly taller than her, but she seemed very small right now. Her voice was meek and pleading. He wasn't used to seeing Kasumi like this. She seemed very different from the Kasumi he knew, or else he never really paid attention to her before. Did anyone? Hibiki wasn't sure of what to say.

"You... seem happy," Hibiki said, slowly, "you're always kind, always helpful." He looked around, thinking of what else he could remember. "You're always there for your family. You're very good around the kitchen?"

Kasumi nodded once more; that sounded like her. She seemed happy, but Kasumi herself would only have gone as far as said that she was content. Hibiki hadn't mentioned anyone in her life, and she doubted that he was simply forgetting about it. Their worlds seemed eerily similar in too many respects.

She made her decision right then and there. There was no way to know whether she'd have another opportunity to be alone with Hibiki nor when he'd be able to return. As far as she knew, he could disappear in the middle of the night and be gone forever. She unclenched her hands from her clothes and grasped at his arm, urgently.

"Listen, please," she began in a hurried whisper, "I like bouquets of light color with a few deep accents. Like lillies with a few red roses mixed in. I enjoy listening to cello music, but not piano. Do you understand?"

Ryouga didn't, but nodded in response to Kasumi's hungry look.

"I like hearing stories. I don't get bored listening to the adventures others have. I like mystery novels but don't enjoy talking about real life crime. I can be forced into doing karaoke and I feel more comfortable when I'm farther away from Tokyo," Here her expression took a very serious turn, "You cannot go wrong with sweets. I like chocolate parfaits with strawberries. Some company while I cook wouldn't be rejected, either. I like to listen to the rain falling on soft earth and I don't really think of movies as a great way to spend the time. Do you understand?"

Kasumi's grip strengthened, and Hibiki nodded again, still unsure of what was going on. Kasumi's barrage of information was coming through, but he couldn't really make heads or tails of why she was telling him all this.

"Don't worry. We'll get you home, and you be HAPPY there. Do you understand?" Kasumi's grip slackened, "It's not that difficult."

With that, Kasumi let him go and hurried up the stairs. She might not know how she was going to fix the situation at home, but she could at least give the other Kasumi a fighting chance.

Hibiki was left at the bottom of the stairs, alone and confused, his original intent on leaving his room almost completely forgotten.

"What was that all about?" he thought to himself.

Things were starting to get a bit more complicated around here and he was able to follow even less of the plot than usual. He fingered the ringchain in his pocket.

"I'm starting to have some idea as to why you were abandoned," he told the chain in his hand, the azure gem in the middle catches a few stray beams of light and reflecting them prettily. He was getting sleepy again, enough to hopefully overcome the noise in his room. After this midnight encounter with Kasumi he was willing to tie them up and gag them just to get a good night's sleep. No good would come from staying awake, and tomorrow things might be clearer.

He slowly made his way up the stairs, navigating the house fairly well even in the dark. His room was the first one to the left on the second floor. He would've found it easily even if he hadn't tracked Ranma to this spot plenty of times before; the snores inside were actually strong enough to penetrate the walls and be heard in the corridor.

Covering his face with one hand, already cursing the ensuing battle for peace he'd have to wage, he opened the door and stepped into the very dark room, closing the door behind him.

"Morning, Kasumi!" piped Akane as she came down to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Good morning, Akane. Did you sleep well?" Kasumi responded, seemingly full of morning energy and vigor.

Akane nodded happily. Her room was the farthest from the Saotomes and so her nights were usually very silent.

"So, I've been thinking that we should try Cologne again, today," Akane said, taking a piece of toast. She'd have the natto later, when the rest of the family had woken up. "Last time we didn't have enough information on what was going on. I thought something had happened to Ranma's mind, not that it wasn't even Ranma that we were talking about."

Kasumi nodded, preparing the green tea, "That might work. She could also decide to keep Hibiki as a consolation prize." She looked at Akane. "He does look exactly like Ranma, after all."

Akane blinked. She hadn't really thought of Cologne trying to take advantage of Hibiki in that way. She tended to keep her tortures of Ranma to a very specific level and didn't usually involve others in her little challenges to Ranma.

"She could also decide to, I don't know. Wipe Hibiki's memory, leave him in Ranma's place, and then kidnap Ranma and take him to China. Claim that Hibiki made it back to his world, and hope that by the time we figure out the switch, it'd be too late. With no one looking for him, it's very likely that they'd manage to get him hooked up with Shampoo before too long." Kasumi had given this a LOT of thought, with only a few character changes here and there.

She put a few tea cups on the table, and continued, "She could also find out that the ringchain truly was the cause of his arrival here, manage to trick Ranma into using it somehow, leaving us with only Hibiki. He has no link to anyone here and thus any engagements would be broken. Cologne would probaly have little problem with taking him back with her to China, even if Shampoo wouldn't accept him as a love interest. But I doubt it, Hibiki doesn't really seem that different from Ranma and Shampoo might quickly accept him as a replacement for her airen."

"Huh... Maybe I won't go to Cologne after all?" Akane said, not entirely convinced by her sister's plots but still duly impressed at the depth they contained.

Kasumi smiled at her little sister.

A faint splash was heard from outside, drawing the attention of both Tendo girls. They knew what this presaged, and it was only a matter of seeing which one of the Saotomes would be the one to come downstairs.

Yawning and stretching, Ranma showed up at the kitchen door. Today was Genma's day to wake up by being thrown out the window.

"Good morning, Kasumi. Morning, Akane," he greeted the kitchen's current occupants. "Is piggy Ranma, uh... Hibiki, in the dojo or something?"

Kasumi frowned. "What do you mean? Isn't he in his room?"

"No. His pack is still there so it's not like he's gone, right?"

Kasumi turned around, so they couldn't see her expression. What if he was gone? What if she scared him with all the advice she gave him on how to conquer her other self? What if because of her, he now couldn't find his way back to his world?

"So, where is he?"

**Author****'****s****Notes****:**

I struggled with whether to go through Kasumi's introspection during this chapter or to slowly tease how things got to this point at a later date but I feel that I don't do anyone any favors by trying to drag that over a long period of time. Considering how this chapter eventually turned up, the question really just became "Do I reveal a bit of how Kasumi and Ranma ended up growing close, or leave it COMPLETELY up to the reader, as I won't have time to examine this little subplot?"

In the end, I wanted to give some weight to Kasumi's dilemma. She's not a character driven by lust. I wanted to provide some idea as to how it was that she could now be in a situation where she might hurt Akane's feelings but be unwilling to simply give up her desire.


End file.
